2012 senior class photos
2012 West Carrollton graduation
Home of the Week
Home > Blogs > Flyer Connection: University of Dayton sports > Archives > 2009 > November > 19
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Gregory knows Villanova will be huge test
SAN JUAN — Dayton coach Brian Gregory realizes 22 turnovers and 43-percent shooting — his team’s stat line in a first-round win over Georgia Tech — probably won’t be sufficient against Villanova on Friday.
The fifth-ranked Wildcats (3-0) rallied for a 69-68 win over George Mason today. They hit two gigantic 3-pointers — the second a game-winner by forward Isaiah Armwood with 17 seconds left. Armwood is an unlikely hero. He played just four minutes, and it was his only shot of the game
Villanova finished 30-8 and reached the Final Four last year.
“Obviously it’s a great opportunity to play Villanova, one year removed from the Final Four,” Gregory said. “I’ve known Jay Wright since I was a college player, and I just have an unbelievable amount of respect for him and the program he’s built there.”
The Flyers’ 63-59 win over Georgia Tech gives them a 7-2 record against BCS teams the last three years, but they haven’t beaten a Top 5 foe since knocking off DePaul on Ed Young’s famous shot in 1984.
Despite the sometimes sloppy play against the Yellow Jackets, Gregory couldn’t criticize his team’s intensity.
“I’m not satisfied with where we are at all,” he said. “At times we played ugly. But we really do play hard. I get on the guys sometimes when we don’t execute like we can, but you can never fault our effort. And when you have talented guys who are good guys who play like that, you’re going to be successful.”
Read more about the tournament:
Flyers’ Big 2 have been nonfactors so far
Sophomores deliver for Flyers against Georgia Tech
Follow the Flyers against Villinova
Permalink | Comments (27) | Post your comment |
Flyers face No. 5 Villanova next
SAN JUAN — Dayton will play fifth-ranked Villanova in the second round of the Puerto Rico Tip-off Classic on Friday.
The Wildcats (3-0) trailed by double digits for much of the game but rallied to beat George Mason, 69-68, on Isaiah Armwood’s 3-pointer with 17 seconds left. It was his only shot of the game.
George Mason called a timeout with 13 seconds to go to set up a last shot but couldn’t get off a final fling.
“First, I want to apologize for making everybody watch that,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “It was just lucky. We want to give George Mason credit. They played better than us. Sometimes it happens that way. I like to be on this side better.
“It’s one of those games — with a team like this having a lot of young players — that’s going to help us a lot.”
Armwood wasn’t Wright’s first option.
“He’s the last one I wanted to shoot,” Wright said. “We have good players. He knows he had the green light. It’s just I have more confidence in the other guys.”
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment |
Gregory elated with comeback effort
SAN JUAN — Dayton was hounded into an unsightly 22 turnovers, shot a mediocre 43 percent from the field and was out-rebounded by eight, all of which may sound like a recipe for disaster.
But coach Brian Gregory has been extolling the virtues of his deep bench, and a trio of sophomore subs made sure the Flyers didn’t falter against No. 21 George Tech.
Chris Johnson had a game-high 19 points, Paul Williams added 13 and and Luke Fabrizius 12 in the 63-59 victory Thursday in the first round of the Puerto Rico Tip-off Classic. UD’s bench out-scored the Yellow Jackets’ reserves, 47-24.
UD led by 10 early in the second half but fell into a turnover funk and seemed destined for a sure defeat. But down 57-50, the Flyers finished the game on a 13-2 run.
Williams scored UD’s last seven on a 3-pointer and two consecutive one-and-ones in the final 51 seconds.
Quotes from the post-game press conference:
• “We showed flashes at times of where we can get to,” Gregory said. “It was longer than it was on Saturday (against Creighton), but not as long as it needs to be.”
• “They did a great job of pounding the ball inside,” Gregory said. “We had some defensive breakdowns, especially in transition. That team is dangerous in the open court because they have great size and can make some plays. We did not handle the ball well — 22 turnovers is way too many. That’s too many free possessions for them.
“Give them credit because they fought back. Our guys, with about four minutes to go, knew if we could stop them in transition and get them in the half court and get some stops, we’d eventually get some open looks against that zone. And CJ got it going with the big 3 from the right side.”
UD had just one field goal in a nearly 10-minute span until Johnson’s 3-pointer with 2:43 to go cut the deficit to 57-55.
• The Yellow Jackets were forced into 26 turnovers and made just 11-of-20 free throws, but they were able to make it a game through a 34-26 edge on the boards and by shooting 51.1 percent from the field.
Coach Paul Hewitt, though, was vexed over allowing UD to make some monumental 3-pointers. Fabrizius was 4-for-7 from the arc.
“Maybe we could have gotten out and contested a little more, especially with (Luke) Fabrizius. But give them credit, they made some big 3’s.
“No disrespect to them — they played very, very well — but we turned the ball over too much. We had a little flow going … then we got a little frantic, missed a couple free throws and gave them some life. But you have to give them credit. A lot of teams would have those opportunities down seven and not cash in. Dayton cashed in. They executed and made some big shots.”
• Paul Williams on his late-game heroics:
“I’d just like to give some credit to London (Warren). He drove and kicked it out and trusted me on the 3. The free throws, all summer, we’ve been working on them, shooting thousands and thousands. I just had to show I could hit ‘em.”
• Stat of the day: Chris Wright had almost as many turnovers (6) as points (7). And the team’s other returning star, Marcus Johnson, didn’t score a point, going 0-for-5 from the field.
Permalink | Comments (9) | Post your comment |
Williams leads Flyers to victory
SAN JUAN — Sophomore sub Paul Williams scored seven points in the final 51 seconds, and Dayton finished the game on a 13-2 run to knock off Georgia Tech, 63-59, in the first round of the Puerto Rico Tip-off Classic here Thursday.
Trailing 57-50 and looking like they were headed for a certain defeat, the Flyers went on an 11-0 rampage to take a 61-57 lead with 32.8 seconds to go. Williams hit a 3-pointer to put the Flyers ahead and then made both ends of a one-and-one for the four-point spread.
Freshman sensation Derrick Favors had a rebound dunk with 17.9 seconds to go, and the Yellow Jackets fouled Williams again with 12.7 seconds left. He calmly swished both tosses.
Sophomore wing Chris Johnson had a game-high 19 points, and sophomore forward Luke Fabrizius added 12 on four 3-pointers.
The Flyers opened up a 37-27 lead with 17:30 left when Chris Wright made a steal, threw an outlet pass while sitting on his backside to London Warren, who flipped to Chris Johnson for a dunk.
But UD suffered four straight turnovers after that, and Georgia Tech cut the deficit ot 37-33.
The Flyers, who had led since the 14:50 mark of the first half, pushed the margin to 46-37 on a Luke Fabrizius 3-pointer with 12:10 to go. But they scored just one point on their next eight possessions.
The Yellow Jackets took a 49-47 lead on a 3-pointer by Brian Oliver with 7:45 left. And the Flyers continued to falter after that. They scored just three points in a span of about seven minutes and fell behind, 55-49. The deficit increased to 57-50 before UD’s comeback.
Chris Wright hit two free throws, Chris Johnson made a 3-pointer, and London Warren made one of two freebies to cut the deficit to 57-56.
Williams then hit the biggest 3-pointer of his career, swishing one from the deep corner for a 59-57 lead with 52 seconds to go — a 9-0 run by UD.
• The Flyers started two posts in Kurt Huelsman and Devin Searcy again, but Johnson was quick to come off the bench. He was sent in after just 2:02 of the first half and 1:24 of the second half.
• GT coach Paul Hewitt was frustrated with some traveling calls on his post players. And the officials were, actually, calling a tight game.
• UD sent out a Twitter (or is it a Tweet?) at halftime with a quote from Brian Gregory with his team leading, 31-22. “Have to keep them off the offensive glass and continue ball pressure on D.”
• Players from both teams had problems with the slick floor. “I think it’s so humid down here, when they push those mops, it’s just moisture on moisture instead of it being dry to soak it up,” an official said during a break.
Permalink | Comments (24) | Post your comment |
Flyers take first-half lead against Jackets
Halftime observations at the Dayton-Georgia Tech game, which UD leads 31-22:
The Flyers could have been ahead by even more, but they missed a couple of lay-ups late in the period.
• UD’s Matt Kavanaugh, who didn’t play in the opener against Creighton, came off the bench in the first four minutes against Georgia Tech.
• GT’s Derrick Favors showed why he was considered perhaps the top recruit in the nation last year. The 6-9 freshman had a monster slam off a post move early in the game.
• UD’s Chris Johnson is on fire. The sophomore wing came off the bench with 17:58 to go in the first half and hit his first four shots, a mid-range jumper and three 3-pointers, in a little over seven minutes.
Fellow sub Luke Fabrizius also has been a force, hitting three 3’s, including two in a 37-second span to give UD a 28-20 lead.
• There are about 500 fans in the stands, and roughly 300 of them are red-clad UD rooters.
• Chris Wright picked up his first foul at 19:36 and needed to be hack-free for the rest of the half or risk having to take a seat on the bench. He didn’t foul again.
Kurt Huelsman is in foul trouble for the second straight game. He picked up his second with 7:33 to go in the first half.
• The Flyers have been sloppy on turnovers (12), and Mickey Perry has struggled. The converted point guard has three turnovers and has missed both of his 3-point shots.
• The Yellow Jackets are helping the Flyers with a 6-for-13 showing from the foul line. They also have an astounding 16 turnovers.
• The Flyers and Yellow Jackets lined up for the playing of the Puerto Rico anthem at opposite foul lines. When it ended, some UD players started trotting toward the other end for the traditional handshake. But there was just one problem. The Star Spangled Banner was next, and the Flyers sheepishly retreated back to their pre-game positions.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
Flyers favored against Georgia Tech
SAN JUAN — The Dayton Flyers have arrived at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico (don’t know my Spanish, but I’m assuming Coliseo means big gym.) for their first-round Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic game against Georgia Tech. The coaches have gone casual, wearing short-sleeve golf shirts instead of their usual suits.
A couple hundred red-clad Flyer fans are already in the building. There are no other fans in the seats yet. The tipoff isn’t for another 50 minutes.
UD ended the first segment of its warm-up with its usual dunk display, and the Flyer Faithful cheered with enthusiasm.
This is the first game between ranked teams in college basketball this year. The Flyers are a one-point favorite. A ONE POINT FAVORITE??? The Yellow Jackets are picked to finish fourth in the ACC and landed the best recruit in the nation in Derrick Favors. Plus, they get D’Andre Bell back after the former starter took a medical redshirt year last season.
The weather in San Juan has been tropical — steamy, perspire-profusely-on-short-walks hot and then heavy rains. The team got caught in a downpour Wednesday, and the streets were flooded instantly with water as high as two or three feet in some places.
Because traffic was snarled in this city of about a half-million, a 20-minute bus trip from a practice gym to the team hotel took the Flyers about two hours.
Coach Brian Gregory is going with the same starting lineup as he did in the opener: Kurt Huelsman at center, Devin Searcy and Chris Wright at forward and Marcus Johnson and London Warren at the guards.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
Gregory lost recruiting battle but wishes Pullen well
Brian Gregory may still remember the disappointment of losing super recruit Jacob Pullen to Kansas State, but the Dayton coach has no bitterness toward the point guard.
Pullen seemed destined to end up with UD in the 2007 class with Chris Wright and Devin Searcy — his high school coach told me at one point in the recruiting process that Pullen would be committing within a couple of days — but Bob Huggins got the K-State job, swooped in and coaxed a commitment out of Pullen going into his senior year without the player ever having even visited the campus.
The irony is Huggins was gone before Pullen arrived.
“You recruit only good kids, so you hope for only good things for him,” Gregory said.
“One thing you do, though, is you tend to keep track of them when they move on.”
Pullen is a speedy left-hander who can shoot with range (he would have been a nice fit for UD, in other words). He averaged 13.9 points, second on the team, in the Big 12 as a sophomore last year. And the three-year starter was first in steals (1.8) and second in assists (3.4).
The Wildcats play in the first round of the Puerto Rico Tip-off Classic against Boston University at 7:30 p.m. today. K-State and UD are in opposite brackets, and there’s a 25 percent chance they’ll meet in the final game of the tourney Sunday.
m
